The following are a few Basque and Ainu words resembling one another. The writer culled them out of a copy of Genesis in the Basque language he has by him. The idea of a possible affinity was suggested to him by Mr. Dodson, of Lisbon, himself a Basque scholar. This gentleman also sent him a list of words resembling Ainu which he has unfortunately quite lost in moving from one place to another. They are given here in the hope that some one who knows Basque will compare that language with this grammar and dictionary.
| Basque. | English. | Ainu. | English. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arima, | Soul, life, | Ramat | Soul, life. |
| Etche, | House, | Chisei, | House. |
| Emazte, | Wife, woman, | Mat,[1] Machi, | Woman. Female. Wife. |
| Hastea, | Begin, | Heashi, | To begin. |
| Hatssa | Breath, | Hussa, | To breath, to blow with the mouth. |
| Passaia | Walk | Apkash, Paye |
Walk, go. |
Having thus been brought home to Europe let us linger here for a space and consider one or two very curious matters. The Ainu word now usually used for “house” is Chisei or Tchisei or Tchse, or Tshe, or Tise, just as one choses, while among the Kurile Saghalien Islanders it is Che. But the Welsh for “house” is T; and the original Cornish name was Ty, Sing and Tai plural. Shuyd’s Grammar informs us, however, that in modern Cornish t has been changed to tsh thus out of ty producing tshey, “houses.” One wonders whether the Ainu word for “house” has any connection. Again in Cornish and Welsh the word for
- ↑ Compare also the Russian мать, “mother.”
